Erasmus James Traded to Redskins

[VikAiRious]

May 27th, 2008 – 4:41 PM by Judd Zulgad
The Erasmus James saga took another twist this afternoon.

Three days after the team placed the defensive end on waivers, James was dealt to the Washington Redskins for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2009 draft. A two-paragraph news release issued by the Vikings said the team, “originally waived James on May 23, but rescinded the transaction today and finalized the trade with Washington.”

The Vikings were able to pull James off waivers because the paperwork never officially went through with the NFL office. The Vikings informed the league office of their intention on Friday after it was closed for the Memorial Day weekend. The office didn’t re-open until Tuesday and the Vikings had time to rescind the move before it became official.

Washington obviously made the trade offer to the Vikings because it felt another team would claim James off waivers. “We really liked Erasmus coming out of college,” said Vinny Cerrato, Redskins executive vice president of football operations. “He is young, talented and has a great deal of potential.”

James, who had three knee surgeries in a 13-month period while with the Vikings, will be reunited with Redskins defensive line coach John Palermo, who worked with James when the pair was at the University of Wisconsin.

ESPN reports that in order for the Vikings to get the pick James has to make the Redskins roster.

Update: In order for the Vikings to get the Redskins’ seventh-round pick in 2009, James must play in at least one-regular season game in 2008. This means James could begin the season on the physically-unable-to-perform list and the Vikings would still have a chance to get their pick.

Also, it now makes sense why the Vikings made this move late on the Friday afternoon before Memorial Day. It essentially gave the team time to find a trade partner before James hit the official waiver wire at 3 p.m. Tuesday. Pretty smart move.